Digital nibbles & bytes on technology, startups, media and life

Where do you find inspiration?

Inspiration can come from just about anywhere provided your eyes, ears and mind are open to it. Where do you go, what do you do to get inspiration for your work? The internet is certainly a great place to go looking for inspiration. Whether it is a blog post, a graphic treatment, a video or an entire web site experience, the internet is a massive potpourri of creativity waiting to be discovered and be inspired by. However, it’s also easy to get lost in the abyss of the virtual world, and the physical world can get ignored or pushed to the periphery. Going for a walk (urban or nature), listening, touching and smelling our environment can often provide the impetus for a new creative path or a creative solution to a business problem.

The advertising industry whose lifeblood depends on the constant flow of creative ideas can occasionally be a great reservoir for inspiration. Here is an old (in web time) favourite video from 2004-05’ish. It’s a video done by the founder and producer of the creative agency – Belief. One of the best points made in this video is when they say that ‘design is an artform, not a job – it’s really a lifestyle’. The same can be said for being an entrepreneur – it’s not just a job (how many entrepreneurs work 9 to 5?) it’s most definitely a lifestyle where your passion, creativity, risk tolerance and acumen are tested daily and like the video mentions, you need to immerse yourself in your work, constantly be living with it and everywhere you go, everything you see, be influenced by it.

Test your beliefs, what is important to you, what do you believe so firmly in that you can’t wait to make it happen. Again, while this video is about advertising, many of the broad points they make can apply to just about any industry or profession. The video is called ‘Pollinate – Chain Reaction’ and it’s all about creativity, inspiration and how to find it.